Update On Boesch’s Stance

Two weeks ago, I took a look atBrennan Boesch‘s hitting mechanics, and saw some changes in his approach from 2011 to 2012. The outfielder admitted that a thumb injury and subsequent surgery forced him to change some aspects of his swing, but looked to correct these in 2013.

Of the changes he made over the previous two seasons, Boesch brought his hands closer to the hitting zone, and the bat closer to his shoulder. When he entered camp with the Yankees, the left-hander’s stance was still very similar to his 2012 approach, with the exception of a two-handed follow-through. Though he missed some time with the club over the last week, it looks like Boesch has corrected his hands, and reverted back to a one-handed follow-through.

This video from 2013 was taken of the home run he hit on Wedensday night. You can see that he begins his hands much further back, and his elbows are in a more loaded position. He’s also using the one-handed follow-through that he used in both 2012 and 2011. One advantage of this approach is the ability to maintain eye-contact with the pitch, and even with a one-handed finish in 2012, Boesch’s head remained much more stable on contact on Wednesday.

I also brought up the fact in the last article that his back foot took a much smaller stride in 2012. As you see in the clip above, the front of his back foot remains on the ground and he steps down on contact with the pitch, but in 2011 it was a full step with entire foot off the ground. This type of change has been known to reduce power. Although you can’t see a change in the clip of 2013 above, I did notice throughout the game that Beosch is still keeping the front of his foot on the ground as we saw last year.

Overall, the changes look good, and he looks to be more balanced at the plate. He’s only had a handful of at bats since making the most recent changes, but he’s currently 2 for 7 with a home run, a double, and a strike out. For those interested in the type of contact, he’s hit two popups, two flyballs, one line drive, and one ground ball. It’s way too early to gauge the results, but the Yankees will be placing him on the roster opening day, where he should get a chance to start in the outfield against some right-handed pitchers.